Police probe 'hate crime' in Vermont shooting

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES — A suspect was arrested in the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent in Burlington, Vermont, CNN reported early on Monday, in an attack police are investigating as a suspected hate-motivated crime.

A man with a pistol shot and wounded the three victims on the street near the University of Vermont on Saturday evening and then ran away, police said.

CNN reported that a suspect, identified as Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested on Sunday afternoon. Two of the victims are US citizens and the third is a legal US resident, all 20 years old, police said.

The victims were reported to have been speaking Arabic when attacked, according to the nonprofit Institute for Middle East Understanding, which also said the assailant opened fire on the three men after he began to shout at and harass them.

"In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime," Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement earlier.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

"That there is an indication that this shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling, and this possibility is being prioritized" by police, Mayor Miro Weinberger said.

The victims' families issued a joint statement earlier in the day, urging authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

Agencies via Xinhua